Music will again be banned in Afghanistan. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid announced this. “Music is forbidden in Islam – he told the New York Times – but we hope to be able to persuade people not to do these things, instead of putting pressure”. Under the Taliban rule in the 1990s, the BBC recalls, music, television and cinema were strictly prohibited and breaking the rules could get you in serious trouble.
While trying to present a more tolerant image of the Taliban, Mujahid – widely considered the next minister of information and culture – confirms in an interview with the New York Times that music will not be allowed in public.
The Taliban spokesman, despite the tense situation at the Kabul airport, hopes to be able to establish good relations with the international community and points to counter-terrorism, the fight against opium and the reduction of refugees in the West as possible areas of cooperation.